Menards Infiniti Pro Series
California 100 - California Speedway
September 20, 2003
MARK TAYLOR
Race winner and 2003 Champion
THE MODERATOR:
At this time we'd like to welcome the winner of today's
California 100 at California Speedway and...

THE MODERATOR:
At this time we'd like to welcome the winner of today's
California 100 at California Speedway and the 2003 Menards Infiniti Pro
Series champion Mark Taylor. Mark led flag to flag in winning today's
race. It was his seventh Menards Infiniti Pro Series win of the year.
Also for Panther Racing, they have now won seven Menards Infiniti Pro
Series races, more than any other team. The previous record was five by
A.J. Foyt Racing last season. For Mark, as I mentioned, a Pro Series
record with his seven wins, also the seventh of his career. Tell us
first whether you thought today would be the day you would clinch the
championship, then take us through your race, if at any point in the
race it settled into your mind that, 'I'm going to be the champion?'

MARK TAYLOR:
It's difficult to say, really. We were hoping that today
would be the result to be able to complete the championship. We weren't
really thinking about that. We were hoping we were really going to win
the race, first and foremost. It was a great car. Panther Racing gave me
a great car every single time I went out on track throughout the whole
year. I was able to take advantage of it. We were able to get seven wins
out of, what is that, 11 now? So just a great, great percentage for us
really.

THE MODERATOR:
Midway through the race, Ed Carpenter and you had a
good dice going on, and at one point he dropped back, came on again.
You opened up at the end. Tell us about fending him off, about his
challenge. Obviously, you had the mettle to hold him off.

MARK TAYLOR:
I mean, the track changed quite a lot between the morning
and the afternoon on both days. We found that yesterday afternoon we had
an advantage over everybody else in the hot weather. So I was looking
forward to the race, especially as the wind picked up, and we were able
to take advantage of it once the conditions were like this. Just able
to get Ed to sit behind me. All I wanted to know was that he had more
understeer than I did. I figured the more he had to work his tires
compared to me, then he's going to eventually have to drop back because
I know that I was getting pretty close to the wall on the outside of
Turn 2. It's just one of those things that you lose the front ends if
you sat behind someone like that. He was trying to get me to go in low
into Turn 1, take advantage of me that way. But I just had the car to
be able to hold it down there in Turn 1. Going in, it was fine; it was
coming out that was the problem. It's just a great result. We were able
to pull away at the end. It made it easier for me, that's for sure. I
think with something like five laps to go, I realized I was pulling
away from him. Thanks to everybody there. Thanks to Pancho. Every race,
he was out there, telling me what's going on around me. He's helped me
learn a huge amount this year. It's partly because of him that we've
been able to win so many races.

THE MODERATOR:
At this time, Mark, let's take some questions from our
media.

Q:
I'd like you to remember back at Indy, Tuesday after the Indy 500,
you said on the radio, you were going to win the championship. I was
there.

MARK TAYLOR:
As soon as I got in that car in Miami, we came out winning
that race, I knew -- I felt confident enough to say I was going to win
the championship just because we couldn't seem to do anything wrong. The
car was great every time I've been able to get into it. My confidence
was high, especially the two early wins before coming to Indy. Indy was
actually a disappointment. To finish third, it to be a disappointment,
shows what a great year we've had.

Q:
I was there in Phoenix the very first day you got into the race
car and started testing. You mentioned Pancho Carter. Obviously, a
big influence on your career to this point in time. Talk about the
engineering of the race car. Everybody is running the same car, engine,
tires. Engineering-wise, anything from Sam Hornish's team filtering on
down or filtering up, or is it just the crew you had that really put
things together for you?

MARK TAYLOR:
I mean, I've had (engineer) Brent Harvey. He worked with
Tomas Scheckter last year. He's got a huge amount of experience when it
comes to these types of cars. It's got to be an advantage for me with
that. Chris Griffis, he equally has a huge amount of experience. I think
it shows because we have had no problems with the car. They make sure
everything is perfect every time we go out and race. It's just a great
team. They're 100% behind me. I'm 100% committed to them, as well. It
shows on the racetrack. I think Nashville was a prime example. Going
out and qualifying, I felt we were struggling to find a race setup. I
wasn't 100 percent confident about being able to go into qualifying with
it like that. And, I just said to Woody (Brent Harvey), "He fixes the
car, I go out, and I drive it. I was going to keep it nailed all the
way around, if he gets the car fixed, it will be fine. If the car isn't
very good, and I end up sticking to the wall, he'll just have to fix
it." We were able to put it on pole there. That was an important race,
as well. There were some big challenges at that point in the year, some
people thinking that maybe they had a chance still at the championship.
We were gradually able to pick them off one by one. I mean, with the
flu coming along in Kentucky, it just lengthened the championship a
little bit. But, it was a great race at Chicago. To be able to win
there really sealed it for me. I think that, along with Kentucky, were
two great races. Do I mean Kentucky (laughter)? Kansas. Chicago along
with Kansas were the two best races for me personally. Great cars, just
able to, in Kansas, drive through the field and at Chicago, with Ed
for so long, side by side. We were so close so many times. To be able
to do that with a driver like that, to be able to learn, I mean, he's
been in IndyCar Series cars. He's had that advantage. To be able to
race alongside someone like that, all I can do is learn from him at the
moment. Hopefully, I'll be alongside him in an IndyCar Series race in
the near future.

Q:
Of your seven wins, where do you rank this one in terms of its
competitiveness in terms of how often you were challenged by the other
drivers in the race?

MARK TAYLOR:
It's tough to say because I think the track was the
challenging aspect of this race. The change in the weather has really
affected a lot of cars. Ed and I obviously had great cars out there. It
was a fight between the two of us rather than between a pack of cars.
It's just a different type of race. We were fighting it out between
ourselves. A very tactical race. He knew what he was trying to do. He
just wasn't able to pull it off toward the end and stick with me. So
probably he's fairly disappointed he wasn't able to do it. I was just
trying to get him to have a bit more understeer than I had. We were able
to take advantage of that.

THE MODERATOR:
Congratulations. Fabulous run, fabulous season. One race
to go. Your thoughts heading into Texas. The overall battle is won, but
your thoughts heading into that last race.

MARK TAYLOR:
Texas is going to be a special place for me because next
weekend I'll be able to drive the IndyCar for the first time. That's got
to be my sort of test, to get in that car, prove that I can drive that
car. I'm going to have a teammate, Dane Carter, Pancho's son. That's
going to be a new change for me. Very exciting going toward Texas.
Even though the championship is sewn up, I'm actually happy about that
because now I can probably learn more along with Dane, help him to come
up to speed so that I can learn more. It's a new challenge for me. It
will be great fun.